Rhode Island’s Medicaid program decided in September to ration the
delivery of Sovaldi, a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration last year to cure chronic Hepatitis C, due to the
drug’s high cost and the relatively high prevalence of the virus among
Medicaid enrollees in the state.

The state’s Medicaid policy stipulates that payment for treatment be
approved only for patients with late-stage liver failure, as opposed to
younger Hepatitis C patients who became infected as a result of drug use
amidst the opioid addiction crisis in southern New England. Patients
looking to have the treatment covered by Medicaid must be substance
abuse-free for at least six months or actively involved in
rehabilitation.

Hepatitis C is the “poster child for health disparities,” but
treating all those infected by the virus would bankrupt the state, said
Lynn Taylor, assistant professor of medicine, director of Miriam
Hospital’s HIV/Viral Hepatitis Coinfection Program and the recipient of a
grant from the Rhode Island Foundation to develop a strategic plan to
address Hepatitis C.